Chapter 144

Overnight, the Runesmiths became the most important people in the dwarf kingdom. Gondo's heart sang as he stood beside his only master. "I came up with this idea, your Majesty." He said and waved his hand out to the smiths in the room who stood over the heatstone benches etching in tandem. Instead of one small bench each, a large one was packed with heatstones which had a thin sheet of orichalcum over it. "Before, it wasn't possible to really try this out, but thanks to Yourself…" He looked up at the magic caster King with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes.

"...It can be done."

'What can be done?' Ainz asked himself and almost covered with a lie, but then he paused. 'I've seen CEOs ask questions before… if I'm not expected to know… it's Okay to ask.'

"Could you explain it further?" Ainz asked, "I have no experience as a runesmith." He chuckled a little as if it was funny to imagine he would, and Gondo laughed with him.

"Forgive me, your Highness. The long bench allows many to work in tandem instead of one alone, and that," he pointed to a little pyramid device with a long swinging metal rod jutting up from the bottom which swung back and forth in a constant steady rhythm, "is my newest invention."

Ainz watched it tick back and forth, there was a constant steady 'ticking' noise from the base which seemed like it would go on forever. Other than that though, it seemed to do nothing, like a clock which ticked without any numbers to tell the time by.

"I call it a metronome. It counts time, see, your Majesty?" He asked, a beaming smile on his face while Ainz looked over the runesmiths, each of them had their little chisels and small hammers, each one hunched over the warm metal weapons, and each one was tapping in time to the metronome.

"The biggest weakness of runesmithing has always been its inefficiency, we dwarves hate inefficiency, living under the mountain like we do, we have to be economical in everything." Gondo explained, and the runesmiths grunted in wordless agreement.

"This doesn't completely solve the problem, but between Your Majesty's marvelous rings of sustenance and with this new process, we can cut production time down considerably. For purposes of efficiency of course we're all doing the same runes, things demons are weak to, and we're limiting it to two runes per weapon, and the same for armor. For armor it will be slashing and piercing resistance, it won't be perfect, but it will minimize the damage we take."

For good measure, Gondo went over to a corner of the room where a pile of finished sets of rune enhanced platemail sat. He reached out and picked up one breastplate and held it up in both hands. "When we have more time I want to focus on covalently bonded runes."

"What are those?" Ainz asked, his confidence going up as he asked the question, the runesmiths wore little smiles on their faces as they worked, hearing a King ask about their craft seemed to please them.

"They don't exist yet. But I've always believed that they could. The idea is to bind runes together like a sentence, thus enabling us to use more runes per item. See, Majesty, runes look to me a lot less like symbols and more like words, like they're part of a language, and if I can just figure out how to tie them together? Who knows, we could make that eighteen rune blade again, maybe." Gondo said with a mix of happiness in his voice and determination in his steady unblinking eyes.

"They are." Ainz confirmed, "In… another world, where runes originated, they were the language of a people which lived far away from me. Coming to this world, it was shocking to find it used this way."

Gondo stiffened. "Your Majesty… I… are you telling me I'm right?!" The dwarf, it seemed, was capable of a very high pitch to his voice at least some of the time.

He dropped the armor when it slipped over sweaty fingers and fell with a clang and a clatter to the floor.

The other runesmiths actually briefly stopped their steady rhythm. "Gondo was right?" The hushed whisper was one of utter disbelief and awe.

"I'll… leave you to your work." Ainz said, "I need to speak with Hejinmal."

He then made a hasty retreat, but the damage was done, or the bonus was applied, depending on how it was thought of.

When word spread among the dwarven city weeks earlier of their submission to the Kingdom of Nazarick, the one who brought their own alive through the gates and away from the quagoa, their reactions were mixed. But the King who tamed a dragon was increasingly welcomed by the dwarves, and as he mingled among them up to the present, Ainz came to like them.

'They're like salarymen at one of the few companies to look after their workers.' He thought in passing. They were boisterous drinkers, passionate arguers, and he found it easy to mingle among them so much that they soon began to refer to him with reverence when his name was uttered.

So now, when the revelation that Gondo was right spread out among the dwarven population, and it was confirmed by the ancient King himself… the relatives of the runesmiths were treated with great reverence.

The workshop where the runesmiths labored with their tiny precision tools became a popular place for the young to visit. "I want to be a runesmith" was now uttered commonly among the youngest of young dwarves.

Word of the demon spread too, and this flung the dwarves even harder toward the Kingdom of Nazarick, with all kinds of questions constantly being turned his way. What kind of army he had, how many soldiers would he bring, and of course… "Can we really win?"

Ainz answered the same way, with cryptic nonsense which sounded wise. "Do not ask 'can you win' ask 'how can you win' then do that."

"Ooohs" and "aahs" at his 'practical wisdom' made him ever more popular, as did his frequent gifts of 'beer from his home country' such that many a dwarf drunkenly asked, "Are you just a very tall dwarf from a kingdom of dwarves?"

It was hard not to laugh, and so he didn't resist, allowing himself to laugh with them he answered, "Good alcohol, like a good friend, is highly prized in my country, and we have many thousands of years of experience with both."

And so, day by day as they prepared for the struggle ahead, the dwarves opened their hearts to their new King.

Similarly, his 'flights' with Hejinmal became a regular part of the routine, the dragon was slowly starting to look more fit. He ate less, though his reading habit was unbroken, there was some muscle definition beginning. "Another ride, your Majesty?" Heijinmal asked when Ainz came into view.

"Yes, they seem to like seeing me do that, for some reason." Ainz shrugged.

"Isn't it obvious, Your Majesty?" Hejinmal asked as Ainz swung himself up over the dragon's back when Hejinmal crouched down to allow it.

"No." Ainz answered.

"It's simple, I'm not as much a dragon as say, my father," his bitter words hung for a moment before going on, "but I am still a dragon. I'm considered untamable, and one of the fiercest creatures. Even if you know I am not… they don't see it that way. So seeing you ride me out beyond the city beneath the stone sky, it fills them with optimism and a sense of security."

"That is what a King should provide." Ainz said, and thought about that more in relation to Hejinmal. "That is what a father should provide. One who doesn't, is no father."

No sooner than he said it, he thought of Demiurge out there, and as they soared to the sound of cheers fading behind them, coming ever closer to the Great Rift, Ainz felt the urge to see the Guardian again.